Not Fade Away
by sylvanius
Summary: One-shot. The way Yuffie sees her friends after meteor and what she thinks of how far they've come. Set between the game and AC.


**If you've seen Advent Children you will notice that peoples lives kind of just well..suck after meteor and if you read the novellas that come between the game and AC you will see that they REALLY suck. I mean like, a lot and that the things cloud does kind of bite...Vincent too...talk about being obnoxious...but then agian you can't really blame them...much. Anyway, this is set before Advent Children with Yuffies thoughts on the situation of AVALANCHE, I always thought she saw a lot more than she let on.**

**Disclaimer: not mine**

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Yuffie sat in Seventh Heaven running her finger around the edge of her cool glass. The celebrations and greetings had long since died out and now, in the early hours of the morning, the members of AVALANCHE were all content to quietly catch up with one another. She, however, had secluded herself on the edge of the room where no one would notice her. For her, this was strange, usually there was no one who would jump into a social situation faster than her but here it was different. It was just too painful to watch.

It had been almost a year since they had all seen one another. A year from that fateful day when they had become heroes, a year since they had parted; sure, there had been some phone calls updating one another but this was the first time anyone could be bothered to see one another. It had made her so angry back in Wutai when she was teaching the children there how to fight that they hadn't stayed together for even a little longer. Now though, she saw that that may have been for the best. Yes, everyone was laughing and making small talk and putting on happy faces but no one was okay, not even a little bit.

She could remember when they had all gone up to the forgotten city to finally say goodbye to Aeris. They had stood there for countless hours, in silence, mourning her loss. Yuffie fingered the pink ribbon around her arm, a reminder of the sacrifice that Aeris had made and sighed. Was this what she had made it for? Vincent had been the first to leave, barely nodding in the groups' direction before turning and walking away, like a complete stranger. That had made her so angry, how could he do that? How could he just walk away go easily, without so much as a real goodbye. Did none of them mean anything to him? She had yelled out to him, telling him he should stay but soon everyone was saying their goodbyes. She had yelled at everyone, why couldn't they just stay for a little while? So much had been destroyed and they all had lives to rebuild, so why not begin together? A part of her blamed Vincent for initiating it even though she knew it would have happened anyway. He should have realized that he still needed them; he still had healing to do. They should have all realized that they needed each other, if only for a while. Now they had all gone their separate ways and what had that gotten them?

She looked around again, seeing the people in front of her she truly wondered what it was they had fought for. How were they any better off? Tifa worked at a bar again, adoptive mother to two children and desperately trying to hold a crumbling family together. She and the children wanted nothing more than for Cloud to be there and yet all he could do was pull away. Yuffie's hand tightened around her glass as her eyes fell upon their so-called fearless leader. He had said that he was ready to start his new life and yet here he was, trapped in a destructive cycle of despair and self-pity. It was selfish is what it was, he was so absorbed in his own problems and so unwilling to test the limits of his inabilities that he was destroying the lives of those who loved him. He might be as bad as Vincent that way, talk about selfish, talk about cold. The man showed no caring for the ones he had fought alongside. He had not made even the slightest effort to keep in touch; in fact he had made more of an effort to keep out of touch. She had truly been amazed that he had shown up (although he did so late by slipping in the back way). He was scared of caring, scared of loving and hurting and of being hurt. At this rate he would only end up being this way forever, which for him could be literal.

Barret was even lost. After meteor he had left Marlene, the little girl who loved him so much, to go and search for something, a purpose to his existence. He had spent the last year wandering the planet only to become more and more unsure of his use. The others were all the same, drowning in their own fears and insecurities, unaware of its effect to those who saw it. The worst, the absolute worst part of it was that she loved them all and that she couldn't blame them because on some level she was the same. They all lived with the guilt and the fears of what they had been through and what they had done and that guilt turned into anger towards themselves and insecurity about their lives and fury at what life had brought them. That anger in turn brought more guilt and so the cycle had continued. What had they fought for? The planet, revenge, Aeris; there were many reasons but none of them had thought about after the battle. No one had pictured themselves afterwards, none of them thought there would be an afterwards. They had gone to war preparing to die and yet they had lived. What kind of future was there in that?

She knew that had needed more time together. They were all broken down and in pieces and they needed to rebuild, something that none of them could do alone. They should have stayed together for just a while, who better to understand than the people who were there with you? In this group no blamed Cloud for Aeris, no one saw Vincent's demons or though of Barret as a weapon. They were Avalanche, they were warriors, and they were friends; nothing beyond that mattered. So why hadn't anyone listened? They had all just moved on, into the uncertainties of a world that no longer seemed to need its heroes. What were they all doing now? You couldn't call this living; it was nothing more than biding time, fading away.

Yuffie sighed, realizing she had become lost in her thoughts and looked around the room again. She caught Vincent looking at her, the barest hint of concern in his dark gaze and she smiled quickly at him as she stood up and stretched. Like she had said, she was no better. She put her smiling face on, afraid of showing her true fear; that it was too late for them and that they were trapping themselves in this cycle of fighting and pain. She quickly walked over to the stool next to Vincent and plopped down next to him.

"Hey Vinnie, how've you been?" He only nodded at her briefly and there was a pause before he took a deep breath and spoke.

"I have been well and you?" He spoke slowly, his voice coarse as though it had not been used in a while.

"I've been alright, teaching the kids in Wutai my amazing ninja skills!" She threw a punch and struck a pose as Tifa chuckled from the bar.

"Don't break anything Yuffie" The brunette said as Cloud came up behind her to pour a drink. Tifa turned to him and he smiled at her as they exchanged a whispered conversation. Yuffie looked around the room again and realized that the smiles seemed less hollow than before, more real. She smiled lightly and Vincent's voice cut through her reverie.

"I have missed people" He said slowly, not looking at her. "Perhaps, I should have stayed in touch." With that he said no more to her for the remainder of the night but in his words and in the smiles of her friends around her she saw that she had been right. What they needed was each other and even though they could not stay the healing could be done little by little and maybe, just maybe, they could find life again and not fade away.

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**Review please! I find FF fanfic very difficult to write and I would love some feedback!**


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